Jewish life in Russia is difficult and many Jews have fled, but a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian Jews are free once again to be Jews. Although The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation's mandate is to support Jewish educational projects in Central and Eastern Europe, we are providing limited assistance to those Jews who remain in Russia, for they are beginning to pick up the pieces of their Jewish history and revive the traditions that were stifled for so many years by the oppression of Communist rule.

As a result of the commitment of The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, the Jewish Community of Kaliningrad opened The Lauder Kindergarten in Kaliningrad in 1998. The following year, the Foundation extended its support to the communities of Perm and Tula, and The Lauder Kindergarten (Perm) and The Lauder Kindergarten (Tula) were established. As these children study Hebrew and Jewish traditions, sing Jewish songs, enjoy kosher food, and celebrate Shabbat and the Jewish holidays, they draw both themselves and their parents into deep and meaningful Jewish commitments.

The Lauder Etz Chaim School in Moscow was founded as a preschool in the fall of 1991 with twelve children. Today the school enrolls close to four hundred children, starting from early preschool through high school. The school provides a regular state program of general education, including science, and English. In addition, our pupils receive a thorough Jewish education, including ten additional hours of instruction in Hebrew language, Torah, Holidays, Jewish History. One hundred percent of graduates have been accepted into schools of higher education in Moscow.

In addition, The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation enables children from Kaliningrad to attend The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation/American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee International Summer Camp at Szarvas, Hungary.

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